Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Timber flooring without skirting 21Jul 26, 2010 7:02 pm That floor was just over 4m wide at the widest point, it was a slab on ground construction. I think it was due to poor drainage on the outside, the water used to pool up on the verandah out the front. Wouldn't have helped things at all, but not having a clear gap and a cork infill instead wouldn't have either! Re: Timber flooring without skirting 22Jul 26, 2010 7:57 pm waylow, That's good to hear since it sounds as if the slab on ground was allowing water into the slab. For my application it's a suspended slab which would never come in contact with free water. The local atmospheric humidity will affect it, but this range should be small. I still like the idea of 5 mm gap with cork, but need to do some more reasearch to determine if the risk (buckled boards) is worth the reward (a great look). Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Timber flooring without skirting 23Jul 27, 2010 9:38 am I'm still not clear as to what was done here ... Was this buckled floor installed without any membrane on the slab? Perhaps that would have helped? Were the boards directly glued onto the slab? or installed over battens or plywood? Also, what species of timber was that, if you can remember? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Timber flooring without skirting 24Jul 27, 2010 7:57 pm Casa, I won't give you the mathematical formula for working out this, but, using blackbutt as an example - It only takes a variance of 3% in humidity to affect the width of an 85mm board a few micos under 1mm. Now imagine 40 boards with a 10% difference Re: Timber flooring without skirting 25Jul 27, 2010 9:49 pm A 3% difference in timber moisture content is a big difference. Also, timber will compress to a certain degree and if nailed/glued down will be somewhat constrained (I recalled reading by 50%). (1 mm in 85 mm over a 6 metre space would be 70 mm and we certainly don't want 35 mm expansion gaps (per side). Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Timber flooring without skirting 26Jul 28, 2010 5:39 pm Its not a change in timber moisture content at all - its the change in the relative humidity in the air. The relative humidity in a house can vary greatly - ten-fold more than 3% thats for sure. Re: Timber flooring without skirting 27Jul 28, 2010 8:45 pm Lex I'm still not clear as to what was done here ... Was this buckled floor installed without any membrane on the slab? Perhaps that would have helped? Were the boards directly glued onto the slab? or installed over battens or plywood? Also, what species of timber was that, if you can remember? There was a poly membrane put under the plywood base. Boards were secret nailed, and glued using bostik ultraset. 85mm boards, I can't remember the species. Re: Timber flooring without skirting 29Jul 28, 2010 9:26 pm Casa2 Sounds as if the concrete slab on ground didn't have a waterproof membrane beneath it. Doesn't effect it - there is a water-proof membrane between the slab and timber Re: Timber flooring without skirting 30Jul 28, 2010 9:28 pm Dukekamaya Casa2 Sounds as if the concrete slab on ground didn't have a waterproof membrane beneath it. Doesn't effect it - there is a water-proof membrane between the slab and timber So we're still left with the dilemma - what caused this floor to buckle? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Timber flooring without skirting 31Jul 28, 2010 10:22 pm The ATFA manual states high expansion as a common cause. So what caused high expansion? The manual says: "May be directly related to high humidity or other moisture issues. May relate to inadequate expansion allowance, poor ventilation or inadequate fixing." Could be an unusually high humid weather for a prolonged period of time. Was there a bad (humid) period? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Timber flooring without skirting 32Jul 28, 2010 10:28 pm Casa2 Dukekamaya Casa2 Sounds as if the concrete slab on ground didn't have a waterproof membrane beneath it. Doesn't effect it - there is a water-proof membrane between the slab and timber So we're still left with the dilemma - what caused this floor to buckle? Was the flooring acclimatised IN THE ROOM for a minimum of two weeks before laying? I bet not, this is a common cause of either expansion causing buckling or shrinkage causing large gaps Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 11478 This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 21844 Elvis has left the building... The site supervisor quit after 2 month on the project. I guess he was just instructed to bark at people, but didn't like when he was… 26 18603 |